MEINL BYZANCE CYMBALS

AUGUST 2010 RHYTHM 99
TRY IT WITH...
FLAT CHINAS ARE
more conventional in appearance
with a rich golden-bronze colour
CYMBALS HAVE
fantastic, beautiful colours and
are also colourful-sounding
SONOR SQ2 KIT
Pair these German (via Turkey)
cymbals with a premium
German-made drum kit
TURKISH CARPET
Such radiant cymbals will look
even better when you set up on
a colourful carpet…
Every cymbal here is
entertaining, any of them will
add exotic shades to your
set-up. Diversity is what the
Byzances are about
dinner gong, crude at close quarters. This
one is so thin there’s none of that, it’s all sizzle
and ‘tiss’ with absolutely no ‘ding’ in it. It spits
and hisses.
Both cymbals being this thin, you need to
take care not to buckle them. They respond
best to a soft-medium whack, not too heavy or
it spoils the effect, although the 20" does
seem remarkably robust.
The third Extra Dry is an 18" china. It’s
dry and fast – sustain is shorter than with
the Dark 18" – and has a powerful, attacking
‘pang’. It is the highest pitched of the four
chinas – whack it on the edge and it’s
decidedly brash with that original china-type,
dustbin-lid trash sound.
Verdict
These recent Byzances include some of the
most extraordinary-looking cymbals with
fantastic, beautiful colours. But more
importantly they are also colourful sounding.
There are four chinas here and they all sound
quite different. Who’d have thought
china-types would end up being so diverse? In
fact every cymbal here is entertaining, any of
them will add exotic shades to your set-up.
Diversity is what the Byzances are about. With
Sterling low against the Euro they are
expensive, which is a shame as they’re top
notch and you really should hear them.
Rating ✪✪✪✪✪
RHY179.gear_meinl 99 6/16/10 1:59:16 PM